One thing I'd experiment is with the first one, perhaps? a vertical crop to make the guy reading the book seem even higher, and more of the subject. Although as it is, it does sneak up on me which was a nice surprise.

You're right. The essential part of the image is at its center. So it can be cropped as you're suggesting. The only reason why it isn't that's because it has to fit the template of my blog (which is a very weak answer, I admit).